Soap Fans Beg Oprah to Save Their Cancelled Shows

The Oprah giveth and the Oprah taketh away. After network soap opera mainstays One Life To Live and All My Children were given the axe this week, fans of the daytime dramas hit up the Queen of Television in order to make things right. Oprah Winfrey has been inundated with messages begging her to pick up the two canceled shows on her television network, OWN. While she heard their digital prayers, the talk show titan has decided that she won’t go to bat for the decades-old soaps.

“I understand what it feels like to have a show you love off the air,” Oprah explained in a video. “And I appreciate that you all think I could save the soaps, but here is bone marrow truth. The soaps have been an institution in broadcast history and television because they had the support of the audience.”

She cited the failing ratings as the obvious risk for bringing the shows to her network. “Believe me, if there was a dime left to be made from them on broadcast television it would still be happening . [But] I will not be taking on the responsibility of trying to revive an institution that for all intent and all purpose indicates that that time has come for it to be over. So thank you for believing I could save them. But I really can’t.”

The final episodes of All My Children and One Life To Live are slated to air this September.